A fill-in talk radio host from AM 600 KOGO is being called out by a local parent for "bullying" a 17-year-old boy who took on SeaWorld.

The student, Zach Affolter of Westview High in Rancho Penasquitos, has a petition at change.org asking the Poway Unified School District to sever all ties with SeaWorld over the allegations in the documentary film "Blackfish."

Substitute host Casey Bartholomew took on the student's views on June 27, calling the boy a punk and saying that people want to go to SeaWorld, so the boy's efforts won't change anything.

"As a leading news station, you have an avenue for much-needed honest discussion about important issues affecting our city," Dow wrote. "It is painful as a listener to hear this opportunity squandered in favor of sinking to the point of publicly bullying a decent kid."

Dow's posting has received media attention, including a blog post at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. U-T San Diego has contacted the station and the host. Any comments from them will be added here as they arrive.

Radio host Casey Bartholomew

The discussion of SeaWorld starts at 21:06.

The U-T also obtained a recording of the radio host's comments, which differ from Dow's portrayal.

For instance, Dow wrote:

Mr. Bartholomew went on to say, “I guarantee that standing behind him [are] hippy parents… laying around on the side of the road smoking pot and dropping acid and having sex in the street… I bet they’re sitting back there saying ‘yeth do it, my boy ith going to have an impact.’”

What Bartholomew actually said was different, in that it didn't say those things directly about the boy's parents. He said:

“I guarantee you, standing behind him, he has hippy parents who still cling to the myth that, you know, laying around on the side of the road smoking pot, dropping acid and having sex in the street is what ended the Vietnam War. It’s not. But we’ve created this myth that everybody buys into, and I bet they’re sitting back there going, ‘yes, do it, my boy is going to impact the release, the freedom of the fin people.’"

Also, Dow quotes Bartholomew saying "some high school student got his panties in a wad.” Although the host did mention "people" in connection with that phrase, Bartholomew mentioned the student elsewhere on the tape. (The U-T did not review the full four hours of Bartholomew's show, so it's possible he connected the two elsewhere.)

Update: Bartholomew did say "some high school student got his panties in a wad" in a snippet promoting the segment on SeaWorld:

Promotional segment for Bartholomew show

Contains reference to 17-year-old's panties.

Update 2: Zach Affolter emailed the U-T this evening, and posted comments below. He says he demands that Bartholomew "and KOGO apologize on air, stating that bullying and/or mocking somebody is never okay and that we all should not be afraid to follow our hearts."

The remainder of his comments are posted in the comments below.

The incident is also being hashed out on Twitter. What do you think? Tweet @RickyWhy or say something in the comments below.